Tearing me apart
by bkleanne
Summary: The flock has found a way to reunite themselves with their parents, but Max isn't sure she can handle it. Fax! ok...here's chapter four...it says chapter five because the one that says chapter four is an author's note...lol! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**6/2/2007**

She ran as fast as her ten year old legs could carry her. He couldn't find her, because if he did then he would win. He would win, and she would lose. She'd never lost this game before. She had always won. Now, though, he was catching up to her, learning as he went, a better way to beat her. She was tiring fast, she couldn't keep going for long. Maybe he would give out before he found her, maybe she could out last him. She heard a twig snap a hundred yards behind her. He was close. He was getting closer.

P_lease, please move faster legs, move faster. He can't catch me, no he can't catch me. _The young girl repeated those thoughts over and over in her head, pushing herself over the limit. She felt as if she was going to die. Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen, her muscles were screaming in pain, her head was pounding from lack of blood, her thoughts were jumbled together, she couldn't put anything into a coherent thought, and so she didn't see the tree. She was going top speed, and hit the tree, head first.

I bolted into a sitting position in my bed. _It was just a dream, Max, calm down, just a dream. Breathe girl, breathe._ I took a deep breath and untangled myself from my covers. I switched my light on and headed for my bathroom to shower. The hot water washed the layer of sticky sweat off of my body, loosened my muscles and cleared my brain. That certain dream really drained me of all of my energy, even though I had been asleep. _Okay, Max you're fine. _ I told myself when I stepped out of the shower. I headed over towards my bed, thinking. _Just a dream, gonna be fine, not scared, perfectly fine..._A knock on my bedroom door caused me to jump and let out a little 'Eep' in fright. _Okay, so maybe I am still a little scared...Okay, fine that dream terrified me everytime._

"What do you want?" I asked the person on the other side of the door.

"Can I come in?" Oh, it was Fang.

"No, I'm in a towel." So of course, he opened the door, slid into my room, and shut the door behind him. He's such an aggravating bird-brain (no pun intended) sometimes.

"Like that's anything new." He smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes at him. His black hair was wet and hanging down in his eyes. So he had just gotten out of the shower too. He was dressed in a pair of torn blue jeans, a black t-shirt (no surprise there), and was holding the laptop. He placed his free hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"You okay? You look kinda stressed, and a little...scared." He looked genuinely concerned. I wanted to tell him about my dream, to just collapse in his arms and feel his hands run through my hair, feel his arms around me, to hear him comfort me with his deep, rich voice. Deep and rich, like chocolate. Okay...now I know there is something wrong with me. I just compared Fang to chocolate. It won't be long till I open my eyes and find myself encased in a straight jacket, locked in a padded room in the loony bin.

"I'm fine." I know. Oh so convincing Maximum Ride strikes again. Fang's smirk returned. It was one of those I-know-something-you-don't-know smirks. Very annoying.

"Okay then, sit." With that he pushed me hard enough to make me fall back and sit on the edge of my bed. I glared at him as he sat beside me on the bed and placed the laptop in my lap.

"I think I've figured the parent code out." I looked at him skeptically.

"What? I got bored and started typing in random stuff in Google. Well I was struck by a brilliant idea and typed in the "code" by Iggy's name and got the address of his parent's house, their names, and a picture of the house." I just continued to look at Fang like an idiot. He had done what???? Doesn't he know that if he finds the flock's parents that they will want to go home? Doesn't he know what that would do to me? Is he trying to kill me?

YOU NEED TO MOVE ON, MAX. Oh, by the way, I've still got the voice.

"Max? Are you sure you're okay? You look bad." Fang brushed my hair out of my face. I tore myself out of my thoughts and focused on trying to breathe, and not looking like I'm in extreme pain.

"I'm fine." There go my smooth convincing skills again.

"No you aren't. How about you take it easy today, just relax." Relax. He wants me to relax, when I know that he is fixing to go downstairs and tell the rest of the flock what he has discovered, and then they will leave me, leave me with five gaping holes in my person. I can't relax. He touched me again and I jumped, startled.

"That's it, Max, you're not doing anything today. Just sit and relax, everything is going to be fine." With that he picked up the laptop, left my room and I heard him talking to Angel and Nudge right outside my door. I couldn't understand what was being said, but I knew that whatever it was I wouldn't be able to do anything to get this off of my mind.

I guess I better tell you what's happened over the past month. It's been a month since the "accident" as the media calls it. The flock and I found Itex's secret stash of nuclear weapons, took them, dropped them in the ocean, returned and I let Gazzy and Iggy loose in Itex planting bombs that would go off simultaneously. Less than an hour later we were flying away from the second grand canyon covered in soot and ashes, and laughing our heads off at Gazzy's so-dumb-they're-funny jokes.

We had flown until we found a house that we liked. I won't tell you where it is because I'm paranoid like that, and someone evil might be reading this. We bought the house with the ever useful Maximum Ride card, and we've been here for about two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness! So sorry...don't kill me...**

**I forgot the disclaimer on the last chapter! Beat me to death, tie me to a stake and burn me...**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anything...besides my stuffed elephant D**

**Disclaimer: For the last chapter: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of them...**

**CHAPTER DOS:**

I cautiously crept down the stairs, taking caution not to get caught by Fang or any of the others. I passed the kitchen and headed for the living room. I wanted to go fly. Away. I needed to do something to get my mind off of my dream and the kids leaving. A couple more feet and I would be through the door and from there I could get into the sky. About a foot more. Yes! I took hold of the doorknob and then a thought interrupted my escape effort.

_Why haven't they caught me yet?_ Oh well, I was home free. I quietly pulled the door open and stepped through the doorway. Only to come face to face with someone I didn't want to see right now. Fang. He had been waiting for me to try to run.

"I knew you'd try." He smirked then made a circle in the air with his finger indicating for me to turn around and go back up to my room. Hmmm...

_I could hit him and while he was caught off guard I could run out into the yard, jump into the air and be gone flying in three seconds flat..._

_**Don't even try it Max. **_Grrrr...Angel. She had read my mind. I reluctantly turned and headed back across the living room. Complaining the whole way...Of course.

"I'm fine, guys! Just let me go fly for a bit. It's not like I'm fixing to keel over and die...-- I chose that exact moment to trip over the bottom step and fall, and Fang gave me one of his uh-huh-now-what-were-you-saying? Smirks --...I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself" I finished picking myself up off of the floor. I know soooo dignified.

Fang herded me back into my room and sat in my desk chair. "Have a seat." Oh no he didn't. He just told ME to have a seat in MY room. Ugh...boys. "What if I don't want to?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "Quit being difficult and sit down, Max." I acted as if I were giving it serious thought, "Hmmmm..." I tapped my finger on my chin a couple of times, "Nope. Not a chance."

I turned and walked out of my room. Fang caught my arm before I could reach the first stair. I let my head fall back in frustration and looked up at the ceiling. I Grrrr'd at the blank white space above my head, ie. The ceiling.

"Max? Why won't you just relax? Take it easy for one day?" He tugged on my arm and turned me around where I was facing him. He was kinda close. "You spend every day looking out for all of us. Let us return the favor and look after you for one day." I gave him and exasperated look.

"Fang, I can't do that. If I don't have something to do then I will think about everything. And that stresses me out." He looked at me for a moment before he spoke.

"What do you mean by everything? Nothing's happened for the past two weeks." I wanted to tell Fang about my dream and that the flock leaving would tear me apart, but this was what they all wanted, and I wanted them to be happy. Plus I didn't need them worrying about me and my nightmares. I sighed. I suddenly felt very tired.

"C'mon, Max. You know you can tell me anything...what's bothering you?" He looked so sincere. It made me want to pour my heart out to him. Fang was my best friend...always has been. I couldn't live without him. Ya know in the friend way.

OR MAYBE YOU LIKE HIM AS MORE THAN A FRIEND. Stupid voice, It knows nothing. Don't listen to it...because I don't...usually...sometimes...occasionally...

Just then I had the biggest, and I do mean the worst yet, brain attack. I crumpled to the floor, Fang was startled and let go of my arm, causing me to fall towards the stairs. He gathered me into his arms...and that's all I remember, because I blacked out.

L:

A:

T:

E:

R:

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but white. _White, I'm dead, I know it. I'm dead, I can't move, it's really cold. I'm dead. How could I have let myself die??? Oh brother, great, now the flock had no leader. Poor things, I want to see them again. At least I made it to Heaven. At least I think this is Heaven. Hell would be black and red. Right? _No offense to those who like the colors black and red, because I like them too... ;P _Hmmm...wouldn't I be able to move in Heaven? Wait, where are the angels?_ Just then I heard something. I tried to turn my head but couldn't.

"Don't move, Max." I knew that voice, I wasn't in Heaven, because he wouldn't be in Heaven. Not that he was a bad person, because he wasn't. It's just that it would be too white for him, he'd have to bring some dark paint. Then he touched my face and I found that I could move again.

"Guess what, Max. I have a new power. Well two actually."

**Ok...so yeah peoplez...**

**It's time for an Author's Note, because I'm the author...and I want to leave you a note...Hah! So there. N-E-Whoozerz...**

**I hope you liked it...I know it's kinda short...but hey I'm being rushed...coughHeathercough...lol...j/k. I'm going to be gone through the twenty sixth. I'm sorry my dears. I'm sad also. Please leave reviews and all that lovelyness. I would love you greatly for giving me something to read when I get back. You people rock...so yeah...I have to go...tear...I don't like long goodbye's so I'll make it short.**

**Goodbye! wave**

**there...short and sweet!**

**Bkleanne**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! Chapter three is here...I'm sooooooo sorry for not updating sooner but, I couldn't remember what two powers I had given Fang, and I've been busy. And I got the third MR book Saturday AND COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! It was sooooo freakin awesome! I mean woohoo! I agree with my best friend, the whole scene at the end where she had to fight Omega and where they were talking about spot girl and all them other hybrids...it reminded me of X-Men...but that's cool because I like the X-Men too...Omega's just the kind of guy that you want to punch in the face...I know some of you are all like 'well it's not his fault, he didn't know any better and if he had he wouldn't have been such a jerk to Max.' but whatever...I think it would be like uber cool to be part panther...oh yeah. I like different...lol...anywho...On to the story.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Maximum Ride... tear ...

**CHAPTER 3:**

**recap:**

**I opened my eyes and saw nothing but white. _White, I'm dead, I know it. I'm dead, I can't move, it's really cold. I'm dead. How could I have let myself die??? Oh brother, great, now the flock had no leader. Poor things, I want to see them again. At least I made it to Heaven. At least I think this is Heaven. Hell would be black and red. Right? _[No offense to those who like the colors black and red, because I like them too... ;P _Hmmm...wouldn't I be able to move in Heaven? Wait, where are the angels?_ Just then I heard something. I tried to turn my head but couldn't.**

**"Don't move, Max." I knew that voice, I wasn't in Heaven, because he wouldn't be in Heaven. Not that he was a bad person, because he wasn't. It's just that it would be too white for him, he'd have to bring some dark paint. Then he touched my face and I found that I could move again.**

**"Guess what, Max. I have a new power. Well two actually."**

"So...what?...are you a human muscle relaxer or something, because I'd like to be able to move more than just my head and fingers...and occasionally my toes." Fang had a grin plastered on his face, and he touched my nose with his finger.

"No, Angel was keeping you from moving." I narrowed my eyes at him and attempted to bite his finger because it was starting to annoy me just sitting on my nose. Needless to say, I missed.

"Why?" His grin turned into a frown, and his eyebrows knit together above his eyes as he answered, "Because you started screaming, and kicking, and hitting everything. And at one point you sat straight up and yelled 'Stop it' like you were crazy or something."

Okay, creepy. I guess I spaced because the next thing I knew Fang was waving his hand in my face and looking at me weird. I snapped out of it and sat up on the bed, sitting Indian style. I ran my fingers through my hair several times, and then I remembered something Fang had said a while back. _"Guess what, Max. I have a new power. Well, two actually."_

_"_So, you never told me what your two new powers are." I looked up at him waiting. His smile returned and I swear that it got a lot brighter in that room.

"Watch." I obeyed, never taking my eyes off of him, well as long as I could. He disappeared, just like that, right in front of my eyes. I panicked. My hand shot out and hit something hard. But there was nothing where my hand had been hit. I carefully extended my arm out as far as it would go, and felt my fingers touch something. I drug my fingers around myself in a circle in the air, never leaving the invisible something. I was encased in some kind of invisible cage. That's when I really started to panic.

"FANG!" I felt short of breath, my eyes were wide. I heard laughter from somewhere behind me. I spun around as well as I could in my invisible cage, and saw...nothing. I beat against my invisible cage with my fists. _Voice? A little help here? _Of course it stayed silent. Then I saw Nudge walk by the door. I did the first thing that came to mind, I screamed her name.

"NUDGE!" She came rushing back to my door and looked at me, confused, "Max? What's wrong, you look like someone put you in a cage or something. Was it a nightmare? Wait...are you the real Max? Oh My Goodness! What if this is a trap! Oh man! I'm gonna go get Fang and Iggy, and probably Angel too, but then again if I get Angel then I'll have to get Gazzy too, because he would want to be in on the act-"

"NUDGE! Shut-up and help me please, no it's not a nightmare, yes I'm the real Max, there isn't a trap, but I'm in some sort of invisible something and I'm freaking out so get your butt over here!" She obeyed immediately, and reached out to touch me, only to be stopped by the invisible something. Then she suddenly spun around and I swear she went crazy, because she started talking to Fang who had disappeared a while ago.

"Fang! Quit that! It's not funny, that's creepy." Then her eyes went wide and she smacked her head with the palm of her hand. "Duh! Why didn't I think of that before?" She turned to me, "Max, you're fine, Fang just put a force field around you, pretty cool huh? Oh yeah, and he can make himself and anything else he wishes invisible. Like just a few minutes before you woke up Gazzy had made himself a HUGE sandwich and Fang made himself and the sandwich invisible, and Gazzy screamed like a girl because he thought his sandwich was like demonic or something like that, it was sooo funny, but anyway back to y-"

"Okay, Nudge, thank you sweetie, you can leave now." As soon as she left the room, Fang reappeared by the door. "You on the other hand can get over here so I can kick your butt from here to Mexico! That was not funny! Quit laughing!" He tried hard to quit laughing, but failed. He disappeared again but I could still hear him snickering ever-so-often. I stretched my arm out to see if he had let me out of my invisible bubble, he had, and so I got up and left the room. I walked into the kitchen to see Iggy fixing lunch and Gazzy setting the table like the good little kid that he was.

"What's for lunch, Ig?" Iggy turned his sightless eyes towards me and smiled.

"Liver." Gazzy began gagging and Iggy laughed, "I"m just kidding Gaz, we're having spaghetti." I smiled at both of them and sauntered into the living room where Angel and Total were watching TV and Nudge was reading a Seventeen magazine, where she had gotten it from I had no idea. I sank into the recliner in the back corner of the room. Trying to focus on the announcer for the game show Total and Angel were watching, but found my mind wandering in the direction of a certain someone. Fang. He had found a way to find the flock's parents. Which meant that they would all leave, and he would too. I would hate to see any one of my flock members go, but with occasional phone calls and visits I could live through it. Fang, was different though, he was my best friend.

MORE THAN A BEST FRIEND. Oh no! When I needed help because I was like freaking out the voice chose to be silent but when I was thinking to myself, minding my own business, it had to butt in!

_Shut up, Fang is just my best friend. _ I thought back to it. I sighed as Iggy called us all in for lunch. I would think about it all later, and try not to stress myself out in the process.

Lunch was a mostly quiet affair, other than the occasional bad joke or suggestion on something cool that we could do, no one said anything. Fang and I said nothing. Angel and Nudge were the first finished and Total soon followed them. Iggy and Gazzy finished at the same time and they all scattered, leaving Fang and I at the table. I refused to look at him, even though I could feel him staring at me. I was still mad about earlier.

I was pushing the rest of my spaghetti around my plate when my fork disappeared. I could still feel it in my hand but I couldn't see it. I dropped my fork and it clattered against my plate. I looked up at Fang, slightly startled, but tried to hide it. He sent me a small smile and I felt a chill travel down my spine.

"I'm sorry." My eyes went wide. Fang had just said that he was sorry...to me. I noticed that my mouth was hanging open when he reached across the table and closed it with one finger. I blushed at his touch, and looked down letting my hair fall around my face to hide it. He just smirked and I knew that he had seen it. When my blush went away, I looked back up at him.

"Me too."

**Okay, folks. There it is in all of it's glory! Here's the reason for my choice of powers for Fang.**

**Invisibility: He tends to keep to himself and is unnervingly quiet, and sneaks up on Max in the first book. And so I gave him invisibility.**

**Force Field: Not one of my favorite special abilities but I thought it fit Fang to a "t" because he is always hiding his emotions, sort of keeping people from getting to him, and so he now has the power to create force fields to keep them away.**

**Basically I gave him powers that enhanced his 'get away from me' wish to reality.**

**Okay, so there is your chapter and explanation and now I'm going to go read the third book again. Yay!**

**Bk**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aaaghh...I'm like stuck...I had a great story line going...I had it all written out and everything...but I can't find it anywhere! I'm like freakin' pullin' out my hair...well not really but you get the picture...If you have suggestions on what I could do next in the story that would be welcome...I'm completely lost without that paper. So sorry. Give me suggestions and then I will have something to work with and I can get chapters up...and when I find my paper I will revise and edit and start off and finish it with the suggested chapters in there...if you even understood what I just said. Just give me suggestions...please...I'll love you forever and ever and give you huge delicious fresh-of-the-oven, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookies...Made by Dr. Martinez herself!**

**Bkleanne**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay...I know...everyone wants to stab me in the face...but here is your new chapter so maybe that will suffice as an apology for taking so freakin long. I dedicate this chapter to Meepisms because I got this idea from her! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or anything else...too bad...I'd love to own Fang...lol ;)**

Chapter 4...(I think)

_I pushed my wings up and down as hard as I could. My muscles were burning from a lack of oxygen, even mutant-bird-kid-freaks ran out of oxygen eventually. I wasn't really sure where I was going or what I was running from but I did know the feelings that coursed through my body, sang in my bones and danced in my blood, fear, desperation. There was no mistaking the fact that I was running from something, what it was I didn't know. I began to wonder where the rest of the flock was, how they were, whether they were safe or not. I felt a rush of wind and my genetically enhanced eyes saw the bullet as it crashed into a tree ahead of me, it had just missed the side of my head and my right wing. I pushed my muscles to the max and gasped at the pain that ripped through my body. I couldn't hold out much longer. The edges of my vision were going black and everything was going blurry, I relied purely on my bird sense of direction and my enhanced reflexes to keep me from slamming into a tree, but I was fading fast. Another bullet whizzed by and now I could hear shouts, I could feel myself slowing down and then the ground rushed up to meet me and I blacked out, my face in the dirt, my wings outstretched, awkwardly._

I shot straight up and my head slammed painfully into something above me. I groaned and held my head in my hands.

"Ow." I blinked my eyes several times and then sat back up slowly. I realized that I was in Angel's bed, the bottom bunk in her and Nudge's room. _Strange_, I thought, _I don't remember falling asleep in the girls' room_. I looked down as Angel moved against my side, she was curled up around Celeste with Total twitching against her back, his paws in the air. I couldn't help but smile as she sighed and pulled Celeste closer. Nudge grumbled something in her sleep about another hot dog, and I recalled coming into their room to read Angel a story, I must have fallen asleep reading her the story.

The door creaked open slowly and out of reflex I jumped up, careful not to hit my head again, and took up a ready stance. Iggy's head popped around the door and his sightless eyes locked immediately with my own wild eyes.** (ha! And you thought it would be an eraser or Fang! I'm sneaky**!)

"Oh! You're already up. Fang needs help in the kitchen." Iggy said in a bored tone. I stood there and listened to him pad down the hall to wake up Gazzy. I turned back to Nudge and Angel, biting my lip.

_Naw_, I thought_, I'll let them sleep a bit longer. _The wooden floor was cold beneath my feet and a shiver ran up my spine, I slid my hand down the banister on the stairs. At the moment I felt like royalty coming down the stairs to meet my public...well ok...royalty with a royal-sized headache. A small cloud of flour flew out of the kitchen doorway.

_Hmmm...Iggy said Fang needed my help in the kitchen. I wonder what he's doing._ There was a bang and then a bunch of smoke and then a soot-covered Fang stumbled out of the kitchen coughing. I froze on the bottom stair, trying not to laugh. Fang tensed and raised his head to look at me. His face was smudged all over with soot, his hair had turned black and you could only barely see his highlights. His chocolate eyes stood out from under his shaggy hair though, and they took in my disheveled morning look.

"Guess I look kinda funny huh?" He said. I hadn't noticed before how his voice seemed to resonate inside me. It was as if he was talking from inside me. This feeling his voice had was similar to the feeling of a beat of a bass drum in your heart when you go to see the marching band in a parade. **(I had to mention a marching band...since I LOVE marching band!) **

"Here, we should match." I was a bit confused about this comment from Fang until he walked to me and ran his right hand across my cheek, leaving five black streaks on my face. I reached up and touched my face, my fingers came back black.

"Fang!"I yelled, "Just because you are covered in soot and ash doesn't mean that you have to put it on me!" I looked around for something to wipe my hand on and settled on my jeans, and used my sleeve to wipe the marks off of my face. Fang chuckled and headed back into the kitchen.

"What were you doing anyway?" I asked, curious. I followed him into the kitchen, it wasn't near as bad as it had looked at first. There were a couple black spots on the linoleum floor and the counters, but other than that most of the mess was from Fang attempting to cook something.

"Iggy and I figured it would be a good idea if someone else in the flock could cook also." He replied. I suppose that fit, Nudge was too scatterbrained to learn how to cook, Gazzy and Angel were both still a bit too young, and I wasn't allowed anywhere near food since I could burn cereal without using the stove, so Fang was the logical choice. Whether he could actually cook or not was yet to be seen. "I need you to be the taster." Fang said slyly. I stared at him and blinked a couple of times, then I erupted into side-splitting laughter, Fang just crossed his arms and legs and leaned against the counter watching me with raised eyebrows as I collapsed onto the floor in uncontrollable laughter.

"You...you want...m-me...to...to ta-...taste something...you c-...c-c-coo-...cooked?" I managed to stammer between gasps of breath and laughter. I was answered by a roll of the eyes, an annoyed noise, and a short clipped answer.

"Yes."

"No way"I countered, now in control of my laughter

"Why not?" He asked, clearly pretending to be insulted

"Umm...maybe because I would like to live past today?" Fang grimaced.

"Who was it that ate the food you first cooked without complaint?" Hmmm...he had me there, he did voluntarily taste all of the food I made at first, even though one of my tacos made him sick to his stomach for a whole two weeks. Even after that he still firmly believed that I could cook something edible and continued to taste the food. Bummer. I was hoping he wouldn't remember that, guess I have to be the taster now.

"Ok, fine, but no tacos."I consented.

"Thank you Max." Fang turned and got a plate out of the cabinet and I sat down at the table and shoved all of the technological-looking stuff to the other side of the table. Except for they never made it to the other side of the table, as soon as my fingertips connected with the metal, it was like my brain shorted out or something. There was a flash of bright light behind my eyes and I gasped in pain as my head seemed to explode. I could hear a faint buzzing in my ears, and there was a myriad of pictures, words, songs, buildings, people, flowers, mountains, tables, scientific equipment, needles, cages, black. All I could see was black, I panicked.

_Am I blind? Is this what Iggy sees all of the time? How can I lead the flock if I'm blind? What happened to me? Where is Fang? My head hurts, I need some pain killers. Speaking of killers, I want to kill some Erasers right now. Erasers, that reminds me of pencils and pencils remind me of school. School reminds me of Anne and Anne reminds me of Thanksgiving and what I was thankful for that day, and the way Fang looked at me quickly and then looked away, he thought I didn't see him. Fang. He kissed the RHW. He kissed me too. Wow, my mind is pulling a Nudge. It hurts to think._

You may not think that's a lot to think, but let me inform you that I thought all of this in between painful spurts of light and pictures, mixed up sounds and all in about 30 seconds, before I was interrupted by a familiar presence.

MAX, I'M SORRY IT HURTS SWEETHEART, I WISH THERE WAS A WAY TO MAKE THE PAIN GO AWAY, BUT YOUR BRAIN IS TRYING TO GET USED TO SHARING SPACE IN YOUR HEAD. I screamed, it was the voice, it was Jeb. No. It can't be, he was in the building when we destroyed it. This is impossible. I made absolute sure that I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore!

_Get the hell out of my head!_ I shrieked internally. The black was fading and the pictures and all were less frequent. I could feel the hot tears leaking out of my eyes and down my face now. The floor came to life underneath me, I was curled up on the floor. No, that's not the floor, that's somebody. Fang, I can hear his voice, nope there it goes again.

CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU KNOW IS TRUE. What the...? Never mind, I'm not even going to bother asking. I won't even gratify the...the...growl there isn't a word bad enough to describe him, well either way I'm not gratifying him with a response.

I could hear my sobs and feel myself shaking in Fang's arms. I concentrated on his voice and let it call me back to reality.

"Max! Max breathe please, breathe." His voice was strained, worried as if it were vitally important to his survival that I breathe. Wait...I wasn't breathing? That might explain the light-headed feeling. I sucked in a shaky breath and Fang relaxed.

_Wait...was that his...lips...no, not Fang._ For a second there I could have sworn that Fang had kissed the top of my head, but then again I'm delusional and in pain so I wouldn't put too much faith in that. Needless to say I don't like it when I feel weak so I'm not going to go into detail about the rest of the day, all I did was lay in bed, my eyes closed, letting the throbbing in my head slowly subside and drift away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The warm water cascaded down onto my skin, snaked through my hair, and loosened my muscles. I spent the longest time in the shower the next morning just relaxing my tired body.

GOOD MORNING MAX. That familiar no-gender, no-age, not computer, not human, voice broke through my calm thoughts and sent them into a hate-filled frenzy.

_I told you to get the hell out of my head._ I snarled. The buzzing sound came back into my ears. That was new, last time the voice didn't have a buzzing sound with it. Maybe something was wrong.

MAX, YOU MUST STAY INSIDE THE HOUSE, IF YOU GO OUTSIDE I CAN'T COMMUNICATE WITH YOU. Hmmm...dumb Jeb, you don't give a rebellious teenager a way to get away from you. I snickered to myself as I dried off. Guess what Maximum Ride was fixing to do. Let's hit the air currents!

Clothes on, wet hair hanging limply, barefooted, I jumped out of the bathroom window and took off into the morning sky. The air felt so good in my feathers, and swirling around me. The rays of the sun danced across my skin leaving is tingling in the soft wind. It was exhilarating to feel my powerful muscles controlling my wings. Up. Down. Up. Down. Over and over, a constant, soothing rhythm. I saw a break in the trees up ahead and headed for it.

The clearing wasn't absolutely breathtaking, but it was pretty. There were flowers of all different colors, the grass was a deep, satisfying green, and it was soft and inviting as I laid down on my back.

XXXXMEANWHILEXXXX

Fang stepped out of the shower, water droplets sliding down his chest and tickling his abs. He shook his hair like a dog and it fell in place in front of his face. He wrapped a black towel around his hips before heading back into his room. **(I'm sorry...I had to...poor Fang's fan girls...I made you suffer...muahahahahahaha...ok back to the story.)**

Fang had just fastened his belt when Iggy came crashing into his room. Fang jumped back in surprise.

"What the...don't you know how to kno-...Oh, it's you...what's wrong?" Fang knew Iggy wouldn't be crashing around the house for no reason.

"Max is gone." Was all that Fang heard before he was jumping out of his own window, his dark wings unfurling with a snap. Max was fast, but when desperate, Fang could be just as fast or faster. Fang took off into the sky in search of Max, he had almost lost her once when he split up the flock over Ari, and he wasn't going to lose her again. Never again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I lay, my eyes closed, letting the sun soak into my skin and warm my blood. I was getting dirt and grass in my just-washed hair, but I didn't care. A wave of cool air came over me as something flew overhead, but it was soon gone and the warmth came back.

"I wish I had brought Nudge and Angel with me, they would have loved this." I spoke to no one in particular, but decided to go get Nudge and Angel, since Fang would probably rather someone be out here with me.

I stood up and shook out my wings to get the grass out of them, something flew overhead again, but this time it hovered, not moving. Annoyed that this bird had blocked my sunlight I moved to the side. It was a good thing I did, because as soon as I moved the shadow grew, and then Fang landed right where I had been a second ago. I yelped and jumped back, my back landing against the tree.

In my lifetime I have seen some pretty scary Fang moments, but never was he as murderous-looking as he was now. I couldn't help but wonder what Gazzy had done to his i-pod this time.

"Never do that again." Fang ground out between clenched teeth.

"Do what?" I asked, confused. Fang took a step toward me, bringing his face an inch away from mine and causing me to press back into the tree.

"Iggy came into my room and told me you were gone, I didn't know where you had gone, whether you had gone willingly. Max, I lost you once I..." He trailed off, probably thinking he had said too much for Fang. I found myself wanting to hear him scream at me, I had hurt him, scared him. I wanted him to lash out, I couldn't stand the way he just stood there looking at me with a blank look on his face. I knew from the subtle swirl in his eyes and the way his jaw was set that he was mad, scared, worried, relieved, happy, and something else I didn't recognize all at once.

"I was afraid something had happened to you." He whispered. I opened my mouth to speak, but found that my words were lost as he covered my lips with his. Only this kiss wasn't like the others, there was no soft pressure, this kiss was all passion and it scared me. I didn't know Fang was capable of this kind of passion. His arms slid around my waist and my hands tangled in his wet hair. We completely lost ourselves in the kiss and only when my nails raked his bare shoulders did we part. Fang hissed in pain.

"Sorry." I mumbled, winded. Fang grunted, and that's when I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. I'm sure my face looked like a clown's nose, because I turned the brightest shade of red possible. Fang just looked at me confused for a minute then noticed that he was holding me close to his chest, which was not currently covered by any form of cloth whatsoever. He threw his head back and laughed, and I couldn't help smiling. I had never seen him laugh like that, and his smile was brighter and warmer than the sun could ever be. I laid my head on his shoulder and his arms tightened around me. For the first time in my life, I felt completely safe, as if nothing could touch me. I felt six feet tall and bulletproof. I felt more alive than I had ever felt before. I closed my eyes and reveled in the feeling, knowing that he too was feeling the same way, we were one.

**A.N. Hokay...so there is your chapter, it is dedicated to Meepisms as I have said before...and now I'm going to bed...I want you all to know that I stayed up just so I could finish this chapter for you people. If you give me reviews then I will convince Fang to do a strip tease for you...lol.**

**Fang: I'm going to do what?**

**Bkleanne: A strip tease for all of the people that review!**

**Max: Can I watch?**

**Bkleanne: Of course!**

**Fang: blushes the deepest shade of red possible**

**Max: Alright! You people better review!!!!!**

**Bkleanne: Now slam your little mousy onto the little purple button because it will make Max and I happy!**


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